QUALITYstarsNY

The $5 million budget appropriation to QUALITYstarsNY will support the ongoing participation of the approximately 600 early childhood programs currently enrolled. It will also support strategic expansion of QUALITYstarsNY resources and supports into high needs communities across the state, to ensure that QUALITYstarsNY is serving all 10 regions. This means that areas in the Mohawk Valley where QUALITYstarsNY currently does not have a presence will be added. This budget will also support the creation and implementation of “Start with Stars,” an intervention-based program designed to prepare marginal and/or high need programs to rapidly improve their quality in order to meet licensing requirements and address issues that impede full participation in QUALITYstarsNY. Finally, the budget will further support statewide capacity building efforts to ensure that QUALITYstarsNY programs can access a wide range of high quality, tailored professional development opportunities so that they can best serve New York’s youngest learners.

Support existing and new programs through all aspects of the participation lifecycle.

Recruitment and Orientation

Quality Improvement Specialists (QI Specialists) will provide recruitment sessions in areas targeted for program expansion and QUALITYstarsNY will accept programs to participate based on a set of eligibility criteria.

QI Specialists will host multiple orientation sessions to introduce programs to the different components of the participation process, such as: The Standards, The Aspire Registry, and accessing resources, such as the Quality Improvement Plan Fund (QIP Fund) and Quality Scholars.

The Aspire Registry will provide technical assistance and training on how to use the system and leverage its many tools and benefits.

Standards Inventory and Provisional Rating (applies to all programs beginning in FY 2017)

QI Specialists will support administrators and providers to conduct a Standards Inventory, a baseline assessment of their program’s quality as measured by their ability to meet the 75 QUALITYstarsNY Program Standards.

QI Specialists will support programs to submit supporting evidence to QUALITYstarsNY’s online Portal and documentation of their staff’s qualifications and experiences to The Aspire Registry.

QUALITYstarsNY’s rating team will assess submitted evidence and documentation and issue and communicate a Provisional Rating to sites and to SED.

Provisional ratings will inform the QIP and determine the resources programs are able to access.

Environment Rating Scales & Active Rating

Programs that receive Provisional Ratings of three (3) stars and higher will receive ERS Assessments.

QUALITYstarsNY will work with a skilled subcontractor to assess 50% of classrooms/groups in each qualifying program using the appropriate scale (ECERS-R, ITERS-R, FCCERS-R).

The QUALITYstarsNY rating team will incorporate ERS results into the Provisional Rating to issue and communicate Active Ratings to sites and to SED. (Programs that receive a Provisional Rating of one or two stars are not eligible for ERS Assessments, and their Provisional Rating becomes their Active Rating).

From the Provisional Rating, all programs (whether or not they receive ERS assessments,) will begin working on improving quality, examining their current practices, policies and procedures and accessing a wide range of resources and professional development to meet additional standards and improve their overall quality.

Continuous Quality Improvement

After the Active Rating, programs will work continuously with their QI Specialist towards achieving their QIP goals and setting new goals as existing goals are met.

Programs will continue to access resources including, but not limited to: monthly onsite visits with coaches, QIP Funds to enhance the quality of the learning environment, Quality Scholars funds to support professional development goals, learning communities, and local resources and opportunities identified by their QI Specialists.

QUALITYstarsNY will regularly monitor progress to ensure programs are on track to meeting QIP goals and benchmarks.

Develop and Implement “Start with Stars” Pilot

Establish relationship with licensing partners to refer programs with violations to participate and share data with QUALITYstarsNY.

Establish protocols and procedures related to working with this population to ensure that individualized coaching and supports will allow programs to meet licensing requirements within 6 months and be able to transition to full QUALITYstarsNY participation.

Identify high quality trainers and training organization partners and ensure they have requisite credentials and experience necessary to provide training and professional development to QUALITYstarsNY programs based on their needs.

In 2016, QUALITYstarsNY will support at least 3 highly trained NYS trainers to become “Anchors,” on the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale tool. This will allow NYS to create and maintain a consistent workforce of trained and reliable ERS assessors to conduct independent assessments of QUALITY program quality and provide technical assistance and support, as appropriate.

Improve database functionality and reporting

Transition to a new database service provider that is better equipped to meet QUALITYstarsNY’s goals to:

Increase the quality and reliability of data collected and measured

Eliminate integration errors with The Aspire Registry

Develop more robust reports for staff and stakeholders

Increase the user friendliness of system for administrators and program staff

Internal/Administrative Activities:

Provide regular (monthly) updates to SED via conference calls/webinars and provide quarterly updates to include high level overviews in addition to specific data.

Coordinate services and efforts with entities currently also serving QUALITYstarsNY sites.

Cultivate and maintain strategic partnerships

Provide systematic opportunities for QUALITYstarsNY sites to access regional high quality professional development opportunities aligned with the Standards.

Regularly aggregate and analyze programs data to ensure efficacy and validity of various implementation processes.

Evaluation

Work with the PDI Director of Research and Evaluation to consider evaluation opportunities, including validation studies.